BOSTON.

I KNOW of a sorrowful singer
Who sings the whole day long,
And oft' as she sings she will always
Sing a sorrowful song.

The little birds oft' at her window
Their warbling visits pay,

'Till hearing her sad notes of sorrow
They turn and flit away.

But I love the voice of the singer
That brings again to me

The twilight, the glen, and the river,
And wailing, weird banshee:

I deem that I stand on the mountain,
Where I stood long ago,

And I feel the spell of the music
That fills the vale below.

And this singer once had a lover,
And he a singer too,

And the notes of one and the other

Were glad some notes and true;

But the lyre they tuned was their country's,
They beat the chords too strong,

And one is an exiled outlaw,

And one has changed her song.

And he does and sings for fatherland
As faithful and as bold;

But she can no longer sing the strain
She sang in days of old.

The heart she gave she never took back,
Though others his did claim;

She always sings her sorrowing dirge,
And never breathes his name.

DENIS B. COLLINS.

What is Meant by a Catholic Training.

IN disputes more than often the soul of the question is completely overlooked, and the technical element of the issue becomes the pivotal point of contention. We have sometimes noticed even among Catholics this mental obliquity in the matter of public schools versus a religious training. This arises from a fundamental misconception of the true function of religion in the sphere of education. It is supposed that a catechetical instruction in the school-room, either before or after or during school hours, is a satisfactory solution of the claims of religion;

but this is so far from being an adequate supply to the demand, that it is practically a nullification of the effects of the religious training required.

It is a Catholic atmosphere that is needed in the school-room. The concrete representatives of man's moral and spiritual life should ever be present to the pupil's eye, and the voice of religion in his ear. It must enter into the very fibre of his moral system, until he becomes thoroughly saturated with its invigorating life. The growing child must be developed, fashioned, formed under its inspiration. It must be the sunshine that supplies warmth and vigor to the budding intellect and the expanding will. When the child learns he must learn religi ously, that is, he must imbibe knowledge along with the milk of religious morality. His studies should have the aroma of purity and truth and sanctity about them, that he may take up into his intellectual life, as a flavor of its food, a healthy and elevated morality. In short, his religious training must be part and parcel of his mental education, not a thing distinct and apart for this or that half hour of the day, when his books are laid aside to make way for a lesson in Catechism. He must practically be taught his Catechism all day long, for it should be an odor, like the sweet essence of the rose in garden, which permeates all else, even when the flower itself is not to be seen.

This is what is properly meant by a religious education. It is not the fact that a Catholic teacher instructs the pupil, or that there is the short half-hour devoted to a lesson in Catechism, which is, of course, an excellent thing, but it is the constant Catholic training and the Catholic atmosphere of the school-room that makes the bone and sinew of sound morality. St. Louis Catholic World.

Here is the true idea, clearly expressed! Condé Pallen, Esq., has become editor of the St. Louis Catholic World, from which we quote it. The man that wrote the three paragraphs above quoted, is one whose eyes are open. We cordially welcome him to his place in Catholic journalism, observes a contemporary.

Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America.

THE Seventeenth annual convention of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America was held in Philadelphia on the 3d and 4th of August. Over four hundred delegates were present, making it the most numerously attended, as it was also the most successful convention of representative workers in the cause of total abstinence thus far held. On the evening of the 2d the societies of the Archdiocesan Union of Philadelphia, represented by upwards of ten thousand men n line, made an imposing display in a grand torchlight procession, which was reviewed by Archbishop Ryan and the visiting delegates, and witnessed by thousands of spectators. On the morning of the 3d the convention opened with Solemn Pontifical Mass, celebrated by

the Most Rev. Archbishop Ryan. In the absence of the Rt. Rev. Bishop Ireland, the Rev. James M. Cleary, President of the Union, preached the sermon. Reports made at the business meetings show that during the year passed there had been a gain of 105 societies and 7,000 members, testifying to the rapidly extending influence for good exercised by those actively interesting themselves in this noble work. Among the other features of the convention were the spirited and encouraging addresses of Archbishop Ryan and Bishop Keane, of Richmond, the sending of a filial message to the Sovereign Pontiff asking the Papal blessing, and the enacting of a series of resolutions clearly setting forth the principles actuating the work of the Union, and presenting methods of reform to be adopted. The labors of the convention concluded with the election of fficers for the ensuing year, which resulted as follows: President, Rev. Thomas J. Conaty, of Worcester, Mass.; Vice-President, Rev. Thomas E. Walsh, C. S. C., President of the University of Notre Dame; Treasurer, Rev. Philip J. Garrigan, Fitchburg, Mass.; Secretary, Philip A. Nolan, Philadelphia. Provincial Vice-Presidents, Cincinnati, William A. Manning; Baltimore, Frank McNorham; Boston, Rev. J. McCoy; Chicago, Hugh J. McGuire; Milwaukee, Rev. M. E. Murphy; New Orleans, D. H. Buckley; New York, W. H. Downs; Philadelphia, J. A. Collier. The next convention will be held in Boston on the second Wednesday in August, 1888.

The Shooting of Stonewall Jackson.

AFTER night fell, Stonewall Jackson rode out with his staff to reconnoitre in front of the line he had gained. It was his idea to stretch completely around in the rear of Hooker and cut him off from the river.

The night was dark and Jackson soon came upon the Union lines. Their infantry drove him back, and as he returned in the darkness, his own soldiers began firing at their commander- of course, mistaking his party for the enemy. Jackson was shot in the hand and wrist and in the upper arm at the same time. His horse turned, and the general lost his hold of the bridle-rein; his cap was brushed from his head by the branches; he reeled, and was caught in the arms of an officer. After a moment he was assisted to dismount, his wound was examined, and a litter was brought. Just then the Union artillery opened again, and a murderous fire came down upon the party through the woods and the darkness. One of the litter-bearers stumbled and fell and the others were frightened; they laid the litter on the ground, the furious storm of shot and shell sweeping over them like hail. Jackson attemped to rise, but his aid-de-camp held him down till the tempest of fire was lulled. Then the wounded general was helped to rise, and walked a few steps in the forest; but he became faint, and was laid again in his litter. Once he rolled to the ground, when an assistant

was shot, and the litter fell. Just then General Pender, one of his subordinates, passed. He stopped and said:

"I hope you are not seriously hurt, general. I fear I shall have to retire my troops, they are so much broken."

But Jackson looked up at once and exclaimed: "You must hold your ground, General Pender; you must hold your ground, sir!"

This was the last order he ever gave. He was borne some distance to the nearest house and examined by the surgeon; and after midnight his left arm was amputated at the shoulder.

When Lee was told that his most trusted lieutenant had been wounded he was greatly distressed, for the relations between them were almost tender.

"Jackson has lost his left arm," said Lee, "but I have lost my right arm."

GENERAL BADEAU in St. Nicholas.

Our German Fellow Catholics.

REV. WM. TAPPERT, of Covington, Ky., chairman of the committee on arrangements for the first American German Catholic Convention, which met in Chicago, Sept. 4, referring to dispatches in the Associated Press report of Aug. 3, purporting to give the real objects of the convention, says: "I was astonished to see the dispatch. What the 'prominent Catholic priest' of the city of New York says in the Herald is absolutely absurd. He misconstrues altogether the aims and objects of this convention. Such meetings, while rare in the United States, are common in Germany, France, Belgium and Italy, and have been for many years. Their benefits have long been known and felt, not alone by the Church in general, but by the Catholics of those countries. The originators, to call them so, have been for some time desirous of introducing them in America. I use the word originators, although the idea has for a long time been entertained, and recently culminated in the invitation, which has been made public in all German, and many English Catholic papers of the country. To give greater publicity to the objects of the meeting, and to correct what is a ruinous idea of it, I will state them again. But let me say that it is not in the least designed to further the advancement of the German priesthood or to retard the advancement of the Irish priesthood to the episcopacy, and what the rector of the German Catholic church in New York says in the Herald on this point is emphatically absurd. The convention will not and cannot have. any voice whatever in the selection of bishops for the Church in America, nor in the government of the affairs of the dioceses, and does not desire to gain, what the gentleman says is emphatically denied as untrue, absurd and impossible. This is self-evident to any Catholic, since the convention can only exist with the coöperation of the episcopate, and could not exist a moment without its positive approbation. It will meet in Chicago, the venerable Archbishop of which See very cordially gave to me the permission to hold the convention in his city.

"The prime object which will be sought in the meeting will be a declaration to the world of the humble, steadfast faith of the GermanAmerican Catholics and their devotion to the Holy See and the episcopate of the Church in America.

"Very many of the bishops have, been invited; so have all the abbots of religious orders in America. Some have already accepted the invitation, which I extended two days ago, being chairman of the committee on arrangements, and each and all of them will be cordially welcomed.

"There will be present from all parts of the United States clergymen and laymen, and discussion will be had on all prominent questions of the day, following in this the programme of similar meetings in Europe. For example, the labor question, parochial schools, the German-Catholic press, societies, benevolent and otherwise, etc. During the session a eulogy on Pope Leo will be promulgated.

"Further misrepresentation of the objects of the meeting will not be noticed. Instead of attempting to foster ill-feeling between the Germans and our Irish-Catholic fellow-citizens, the contrary will be the result. It will be the aim of the convention to plant deeper the tenets of our holy faith in America, and from an observance of the same, manly love and good-will can come to all men. We will not forget we are Catholics. Neither will we, while acknowledging our German descent forget another thing that we are American citizens."

American Help to Ireland.

THE current issue of the American Catholic Quarterly Review contains a very interesting article, written by Thomas Power O'Connor, M.P., on "The Immediate Prospects of Ireland," at the conclusion of which he thus depicts the dependence which the Irish people must, of necessity, place on their friends in America for financial help to carry on their present conflict with Coercion :

"After all, the question in Ireland is not a question of the number of men who are ready and willing to go to prison. Ireland has always been able to supply a sufficient number of this masculine mould and character. What men fear in Ireland is not imprisonment, but the ruin of their families. If the National League is able to assure the people that while they are in jail their wives and children will not be allowed to starve, and that their business will not be allowed to go to ruin, there will be plenty of men in all parts of the country who will regard the day that sends them to be confined within its prison walls as the happiest and most glorious days of their lives. In other words, it is a question of money, and of money only. The same observation applies to the resistance which will be given by the tenants. What the National League ought to be able to do is to tell every tenant who makes a manful defence of his home against unjust eviction, that he will not be allowed to suffer; that if his house be